Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Evans Above

There was a dull thud across the island as news spread of Mike Evans' departure from the Turner Centre crew. It might be the sound of a single head rolling over what thus far has been a very expensive debacle, or maybe he simply slammed his car door in leaving.Out of all of the Turner Crew he was the most reclusive, for his entire tenure I'd tried to make contact with him, leaving dozens of messages without ever receiving a reply. A puzzling response given I'm one of the few vocal supporters the project has.

I think Mike Evans has left his post, possibly as a smokescreen for the Turner debacle. Surely he is not alone in responsibility for the 8 million Pounds that has been wasted on this project so far. Maybe I was lucky but I did get to speak to this chap a few months ago, although I will admit he only took the one call possibly it was the recurring nightmare that he may have talk to more people like me. When I insisted on information concerning the viability of the Turner project he did instruct the aptly-named freedom of information co-ordinator Caroline Dodge, to supply this information without charge.

Talking of contemporary arts shambles, am I the only one wondering what has happened to Margate Rocks, the great under-funded amateur-managed epically-underacheiving contemporary arts festival? It seems to have disappeared without trace - possibly unnoticed, too, as so few were aware of it in the first place.

Arty Harry- I believe Margate Rocks is becoming bi-annual, so it won't be happening this year. To me the new organisers seem much more "on the ball", and I expect their plans for next year will knock your socks off.